PITCH: Spider-Man Academia

The Importance of Sidekicks (Part 3)

Over the past two months, I have detailed both the benefit sidekicks could bring to the Marvel Universe and missed opportunities for enacting said implementation. This article will detail a specific pitch I came up with a few years ago that I believe to be evergreen enough to be written at any future point in time with very little setup. I write this under the assumption that I will never write for Marvel Comics and would therefore simply like to place this idea into the either in the hopes that another writer with more reach finds it as entertaining as I do and is interested in depicting it within a proper Marvel title.

A couple years ago, I made a deal with a previous coworker at the retail job I had been working for at the time, that he would read one of my favorite manga titles if I read one of his. The manga I was required to read for this deal was My Hero Academia. I had been familiar with this title, as it is quite well-known, but I had always been offput by its clear appropriation for western superhero comic books, along with its name suggesting that the events chronicled within were never going to advance past the training phase of the characters’ heroics. But nonetheless I was a man of my word and began to read. By the conclusion of the first volume, I had become a genuine fan, but while reading the sixth volume, a notion began to form in my head that grew stronger the more I read. Volume six introduced the concept of the main characters enrolling in internships with established superheroes, and this is what caused the epiphany: Marvel Comics should use a similar idea to finally introduce sidekicks into their universe…

Before I provide the details of my idea, I first need to explain how to properly tee it up. In 2001, a writer by the name of J. Michael Straczynski began writing for the Amazing Spider-Man title in what I consider to be my favorite run of any character from any publisher of all time. This ambitious run lasted over six years, and during this time, completely reinvigorated the classic character with new lore, characters, and dynamics. One of the bigger changes Straczynski made to Spider-Man was having him become an AP Science teacher at his old high school. Several of the early issues of this run dealt with him solving problems around the school such as the recipient of endless bullying shooting up the school in the run’s powerful second issue or a powered delinquent attempting to corrupt the brother of a vulnerable student that Peter had taken under his wing. This career change was monumental for Spider-Man and I think worked so well that it should’ve become a new on-going status quo for him, especially since selling pictures to a publication is freelance work and most middle class teachers in the real world are forced to get supplementary incomes through other avenues due to being paid so little. Every piece of storytelling touching upon Peter’s escapades as a teacher, even from other writers for concurrent titles, perfectly exemplifies who Spider-Man is as a character and the virtues he inspires. As you can imagine, my pitch to introduce sidekicks into the Marvel universe is intended for a Spider-Man title and is predicated on him becoming a teacher once more.

The opening issue of my Spider-Man pitch would see the students of one of Peter’s classes caught in the crossfire of a villainous attack while on a field trip, and despite the title hero’s best efforts, they are exposed to an experimental offshoot of the Terrigen Mist that the villain(s) was attempting to either sell or weaponize. This results in the students each gaining unique superpowers, and the bulk of the next couple issues deal with at least a handful of them breaking away from the school faculty to take their powers out on the town so to speak, doing what most kids would if they suddenly developed superpowers: having fun without a care for any consequences. Inevitably this would result in them becoming subjected to a perilous situation but are promptly saved by Miles Morales who rallies them into overcoming their predicament and convinces them of the necessity to be responsible with their new powers. It would be revealed that Peter had contacted Miles, hoping that his youth and popularity with the younger demographic would appeal to his students, while he himself is busy covering for the chaos unfolding with his fellow faculty members, all the while doing his best to impart basic instruction to his more disciplined students as Spider-Man. The field trip storyline would end with Peter revealing his secret identity to his students to gain their trust and adherence to his instruction to keep their powers a secret to everyone including their own families until they have better control. He pledges to devote himself to the students, feeling responsible for their predicament. I think it might also be fun to have Miles and/or Anya Corazon agree to transfer to the school to help out.

Throughout the next few arcs, Spider-Man would balance his relationships with his typical supporting cast, with his work at Midtown High School. He would quickly learn that simply trying to impart heroic ideals to his newly empowered students from the safety of a classroom is a hopeless endeavor, so utilizes the wider Spider Family to supervise the kids on basic patrol missions. While initially these missions would be as basic as rescuing cats out of trees or aiding victims of natural disasters, they would inevitably face more dangerous threats ether through happenstance or acts of rebellion. An immediate dilemma facing Peter would obviously be balancing the students’ educations with that of their powered lessons, which would lead him to form an additional class on heroics under the guise of an afterschool program. I could see him easily convincing the faculty of the necessity of this program due to the sheer number of supervillains within the Marvel Universe, and increasingly troubling influences in the school’s neighborhood. It might even prove to be a humorously troubling situation if a normal student joins the program and maintains a dimwitted aloofness to the true intention of the lessons being imparted. Multiple avenues of drama could ensue such as one students’ parents forbidding them from being in the program or its hours conflicting with a more enticing engagement for another.

Another fun idea to toy with in this concept would be for other members of the Spider Family taking positions in the staff of Midtown High and possibly another A-list hero from the wider Marvel Universe acting as a substitute instructor for the afterschool program occasionally. In 2006 writer Peter David brought Flash Thompson onto the Midtown High staff as a gym teacher, allowing him to harken back to the days of being a brutish jock. Cullen Bunn even revisited this idea in 2013 during his work on Venom’s solo series. I feel that this was a brilliant idea, and just like I feel Peter’s status quo should be permanently changed to have him be a Midtown High science teacher form here on out, I also think Flash’s ongoing secret identity should be that of a gym teacher at the school. Both of these established heroes in the Marvel Universe originated in stories together set within the school and I think it’s fitting that they ultimately come full circle, especially now that they are not only close friends, but also comrades-in-arms. In the aforementioned Venom solo series issues written by Cullen Bunn, Flash became a mentor to one of his standoffish students named Andi Benton after a portion of the Venom symbiote bonded to her, and this storyline proved to be incredibly engaging. I think it would be really entertaining to have Flash develop a similar relationship with one of Peter’s powered students. One student would continuously be stubborn, headstrong, and somewhat of a bully, but as readership begins to wonder if this student is veering into villainous territory, Flash relates to him/her on a level that garners respect and adoration. This is just an example of the possible storylines that present themselves with other heroes on staff. And with characters such as Miles Morales and/or Anya Corazon in the student body as suggested previously, even more possibilities become accessible.

Additional sources of drama and tension could occur through background plotlines such as the staff members unaffiliated with super heroics and certain family members of the powered students growing concerned by Peter’s unusual investment in his class. Another background plotline could be the aloof unpowered student within the afterschool program discovering the truth of the class yet swearing to secrecy due to the bond formed with his peers. The idea could even be toyed with that this student’s parents are avid Daily Bugle readers and prejudiced against powered individuals, yet he/she comes to challenge their narrow views on behalf of the only peers that are willing to accept him/her. At one point this individual could even develop temporary powers themselves, forcing the powered students to step up as mentors, demonstrating the fruits of the heroic education. A fantastical ethical question that could arise during the background plotlines is one that the “Smallville” TV show tackled, which is about the fairness of a powered individual joining a sports team. Exploring this would definitely be an opportunity for Flash to step up, possibly joining the coaching staff of said team to ensure that while the student(s) in question are able to experience the thrills and comradery of the sport, everyone involved are safe.

As stated above, the My Hero Academia internships arc was what originally solidified this concept for an ongoing Spider-Man storyline in my head and as such, I think it’s only fitting for Marvel to have a unique rendition as well. Since it is a Spider-Man storyline, I feel it is only right for the powered students’ internships to occur within the spider-verse. When enough time has passed for the students to get a basic handle on their powers and duties, I would have Peter contact various Spider-Men throughout the multiverse, and have the students spend a summer or winter vacation further honing their heroic craft alongside these legends. During this time another Spider-verse event could be held featuring the return of the villainous Inheritors, as the stage would be perfect for numerous tie-in issues featuring the perils facing the students’ various locations through their fresh eyes. Also during this time, Peter could return to more traditional storytelling, and even check in with the other A-list heroes in the wider Marvel Universe such as the Avengers or Fantastic Four.

Aside from internships, I feel that typical school events should be incorporated into this concept as well to denote a loose passage of time, such as the most important of which: graduation. All good things must eventually end, and so too should this storyline at an appropriate time. Though Peter should remain a teacher to teach numerous other (most likely non-powered) generations yet to come, this particular batch of students must eventually go out into the world with the independence that comes with early adulthood to begin their next stage of becoming a hero. To celebrate this bittersweet parting, I think it would be an amazing conclusion for Peter to announce that he cashed in on his reputation with the most renowned heroes in the Marvel Universe to arrange for each student to become one of their sidekicks based on attributes and/or interests relating to said hero. For example, maybe a psychic student with a zen-like attitude could be taken by Bruce Banner to become the Hulk’s sidekick to help keep the latter’s unbridled rage under control, or Iron Man to agree to take on a student with an aptitude for engineering as a sidekick. Each student would then go on to appear in the other concurrently published titles, becoming an entire generation of sidekicks carefully cultivated in the pages of Spider-Man.

There are many other ways to introduce sidekicks into the Marvel Universe. In fact, I think certain characters already introduced such as members of the X-Men, could fit the bill if the desire to utilize them in such a manner came to pass. But this is how I would accomplish this task. Though cliché, I rank amongst the majority who consider Spider-Man one of my favorite comic book characters in existence, alongside Batman of course. It was actually him who prompted me to begin collecting and reading comic books in the first place, though there is a more appropriate venue to tell that story. Therefore, it is a personal preference for me to use Spider-Man to set the stage for sidekicks in the larger Marvel Universe and I have come to be quite fond of this proposed concept. No other hero holds themselves to a higher standard than Spider-Man, and with him being so young, and having endured so many relatable trials during his first steps into the hero game, I feel the one to cultivate a group of newly powered kids couldn’t be anyone else.